6 Baby Steps to Get Started with Evernote

I’m not sure if you are like me, but I have found that over the years, starting and keeping up with new habits has become more and more difficult. Be it lifting weights, reading more good books or trying out new ways to get organized, I need a bit of a push to try something in a small way, see that it works and then (and only then) can I jump in! Sound familiar? So come with me and we’ll take some baby steps with Evernote.

What is Evernote?
In my words, Evernote is a free tool (on your computer, iPhone, iPad, etc.) that can help you save time and/or money by getting you easily ‘Buttoned Up.’ My uses of Evernote can be broken down into three actions.

1. Capture things

2. Organize them

3. Easily find them when you need to

I have found that the more I use Evernote, the more ways I find to easily incorporate it into my life. I took one baby step, then another, then another, and so on…. Here is my challenge for you: try one or two of the suggestions I have below on how to get started using it. I promise you that if you give it a try, you will want more and more.

My List of Evernote Baby Steps (in no particular order)

1. Keep track of your kids schedule and school stuff - Take a photo or scan in their information and Evernote will make it searchable. Next time you need to find the baseball schedule, you can easily pull it up on your phone or computer. You can use separate notebooks for each kid to make it even easier.

2. Make a list of all of your household contacts - I have one that includes our handyman, our painter, the washer repairman, the exterminator, etc. Once you have this list made, you won’t need to worry about remembering the heater repairman’s name, just search for the word heater and find it in a second.

3. Keep a standard grocery list handy - I have a standard grocery list of the things I need most weeks (e.g. milk, yogurt, oranges). I pull it up each time I shop and it is a handy reminder so I don’t forget anything. Note: this is one of my most frequent uses for Evernote

4. Remember things you often forget - Snap a picture and store it in Evernote. It might be where you parked your car, your hotel room number or, if you are like me, a picture of what two buttons I need to push on our complicated TV to make it work. Tag it and then find it when you need to with ease.

5. Organize recipes with Evernote - Very easy to do and helpful for shopping, searching, etc… A great resource for how to do this is the following post: Organize recipes with Evernote.

6. Store information you want to be able to easily find - I scan in (or take pictures) of those paper things I want to be able to find easily. A couple of examples are paper invitations and my husband’s travel schedule. Evernote makes them handy and so easy to find on my iPhone.

So those are my baby steps. I started with these things and just keep finding ways to use Evernote to get me organized. Last week, I used it to keep track of my expenses and receipts on a trip. Who knows what will come next. Give it a try. You will see that it is easy (not at all a chore) and it will help you successfully get sanely organized. Let me know how it goes and other baby step ideas you have for me!

We welcome your thoughts! Please comment with your ideas and questions!

I recently returned from a girls weekend in Chicago.  It was my first vacation since Lexi was born.  And as any person with children will tell you that even if you do get away from home with your children (in my experience) it isn’t so much a vacation as it is a “family get away” not that it isn’t enjoyable…it is…but it is not vacation.  It’s like how there should be a different word for tired for parents then for people that don’t have children…you may be tired but you’re not *tired*.

This vacation did something very good for my soul and last night as I was documenting all the goodness of the trip I decided I needed a new Evernote notebook for Vacations.  I hear people mention great vacations, tips on locations, restaurants in their home towns that they adore and I decided that I need a place to put all this good stuff.

Tell me – what’s your home town and whats the one place I need to go and the one thing I need to eat while visiting?

If you’re visiting Chicago may I recommend: South Water Kitchen for breakfast, Gino’s East for lunch and Quartino’s for dinner.  And if you have time for a massage the Exhale spa was fantastic, the meditation area, the massage rooms, the rain shower, the white tea products, the whole thing – it’s just GOOD.

So I decided what my little Evernote area was missing is some video…not of me (this time) but of my Evernote account.  So in this video I’m showing you all a glimpse into my Evernote notebook and providing a little 101 on clipping recipes into your notebook.

If you’re interested in the two recipes featured they are:
Baked Sweet Onion Dip from Tasty Kitchen and Cinnamon Donut Muffins from Noble Pig.

And as always I encourage you to get started with Evernote.  No, Evernote is still not paying me…I just love it that much.

I love design blogs, I adore wandering around Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware, I think a perfect Sunday is exploring a flea market.  I’m not sure that I have an actual “style” and I’m not much of a decorator but I do love these beautiful places full of fantastic stuff.

I had broken a handful of glasses over the last year and I knew I needed some new pieces and I casually started clipping images when I saw pieces that I liked.  My first step was to create a notebook in Evernote for my project to house all of these clippings. Over the course of a month I clipped 20 or so websites, snapped a few dozen photos with my iPhone and I realized through this exercise that I really loved mismatched glassware.  This is not something I would have expected.  I tend to be very uniform about things…but I just love the idea of having a ton of different glasses, none of which are the same.  If I had not waited the month to explore things that really spoke to me I would have gone straight to Crate & Barrel but 4 replacement glasses to match the set and called it done.

Now I’m having a great time browsing clearance glassware wherever I go and I plan on picking up just one of the pieces I really adore.  To keep things easy for when I do have guests and I want to present a nice table I decided that all the glassware will be a clear glass (not tinted)…so even if it’s all completely different that one element will be the same.

My next project is a new color scheme, quilt and window dressing for my bedroom.  Have you thought of a way to use Evernote that you’d like featured on the blog?  Let me know!

There is a note in my Evernote account that I detest.  I loathe this note.  And sure, I could totally just delete the note but it wouldn’t delete the contents.  It’s a list of nagging items.  Things that I have left undone, unsaid, unfinished, unwanted.  I should call it my Un-List.  Because I Un-Love it.

Back around Thanksgiving I had this unsettled feeling and after talking to a few people about the feeling someone suggested I make a list of all the stuff that I feel like I abandoned.  So I started making the list.  And then when I opened my desk drawer I added to the list.  And then when I opened that hall closet I added to the list some more.  And then when I went to my inbox….that 3rd or 4th page of inbox… I added more to the list.  The list was overwhelming.  The list was holding me back.

I had to look at the list and the items on it and make a decision:

REMOVE IT and be okay with that.  Example:  Basically any crafty sewing project I’ve ever attempted with the exception of my picnic blanket.  Knitting (yarn, needles and tote bag), Baby Blankets (fabric, trim, thread), scrapbooks (and all the supplies one would ever need to make a scrapbook).  I let these projects go. They weren’t bringing ME pleasure so I donated the supplies to a local youth group where I’m sure they’ll give a few people great pleasure.

RELEASE OWNERSHIP.  Example: Helping a family member renew their passport.  This was on my list, I had the paperwork printed for this renewal and everything.  The thing is it’s not MINE to do.  If the person wanted to renew their passport – they would – and I don’t need to be involved in this process.  I’m not sure why I was putting myself in this loop but I want out.  A shocking number of items fell in this category for me.  I’m apparently a task owner.

COMMIT to doing it.  Example: Schedule a dentist appointment.  Apologize to someone you were unkind to.  Get a new container for all the household tools.  Balance my check book….like really.  Run a credit report.  Evaluate my cell phone plan.

I can tell you that now that my list is just the items in the COMMIT department I feel better – there isn’t this looming sinking feeling of what I didn’t do.  Days when I’ve hit a wall on the day-to-day stuff that always needs to be done (laundry, dishes, meals, repeat) I go to my list COMMIT list and I do one thing.  Just one.  I just do it.  They aren’t things that I love to do (duh, they wouldn’t be on there if they were) but I do feel SO accomplished when I knock just one of those things off the list.

If you had one thing on your nagging list to check off today what would it be?

I love giving gifts – it’s one of those things that just makes me really happy and part of giving a thoughtful gift is planning.  I have a Gift Giving Notebook in Evernote in the notebook I have a few notes here’s how it works out:

*Gift ideas for specific ages – this note started a few months ago when I started hearing people online talk about Play Kitchens and I decided I would just whip up a little chart with a column for age ranges and another column for gift ideas.  It’s been a pretty awesome note to look to when I was buying Christmas presents this year and for some Birthday presents.  I have a niece who is four – I asked her Mom what she most loved playing with over the last year and I wrote those things down.  I have a birthday party for a very special three year old this weekend and I’m WAY more confident about our present.  I think those age ranges on the toy box can be really off base.

*I’d really love a – This is my favorite note…its like a letter to Santa.  When a person casually mentions something either on their blog, or facebook, or in person I’ll make a little note.  Like a friend of mine mentioned that she’d like a specific necklace and she said it in a “I’ll never get it but boy I’d really love it” way so I wrote it down….I sent the idea on to her husband for an upcoming birthday – it wouldn’t be an appropriate gift for me but this guy is going to look like a rock star and she’s going to LOVE it.  I love this note.  It also helps me with the “What do I get a problem like Maria…” problem – without this list Maria would be getting a variety of Bath & Body Works products she probably wouldn’t love.

*A gift for me – I keep a list of a few things that I’d like or that Lexi would like/need.  I find that when I ask someone if they’d like anything that I actually do want an answer – sure, it’s nice to be surprised but sometimes it’s nice to just get something that you actually would like.

I do have a request of you today….I need to add some gift ideas on this list for a two year old and a three year old.  So, what do I put on the list?

It’s that time of year when the sickness spreads fast and furious and the hope of a window opening warm day is a very distant dream still.  With all of the medicine and with vaccinations around us I turn to Evernote.

I have a Health & Wellness Notebook.  This notebook holds the following notes:

* Dosage Charts – I take a picture of the dosage charts on the medicines we have and I highlight the current proper dosage for Lexi’s weight.  This way when I’m in that moment where I’m about to freak out because HOW MUCH DO I GIVE HER RIGHT NOW????  I have a place to look that tells me.

* Vaccinations – I have no interest in getting involved in the vaccination debate – your choices are your choices, mine are mine.  Having said that I feel that we are all responsible for our own children’s vaccinations and having this written down for your records is important.  There have been a couple of occasions where we go to a well visit and I’m just not sure WHAT I wanted Lexi to have and when.  Having this written down someplace makes it really easy for me – it’s not a decision I’m making or not making in front of the doctor.

*Health Log – I keep a really quick log with dates on when Lexi had a fever, congestion, diaper rash, well visit dates and stats, and her reaction to shots.  I’ve referenced this regularly over the last 17 months – the log has helped me realize that a diaper rash was related to her having red berries or that she gets a red bumpy rash on her face when she has too much citrus.

So that’s another way I use Evernote.

The holidays are still in full swing – the momentum is building and I’m thinking about resolutions.  I have to admit that I love the new years resolution – I also love the monthly resolutions and the Monday resolutions (like the one I have for this Monday: stop eating the cheese at holiday parties).  I was working on this post the past few days and I can’t help but pull the word apart.

Re Solutions – meaning in regard to solutions.

And really that’s what all of my resolutions are – they are a route to a solution; be it better health, financial ease or just being more fun loving.  My resolutions tend to be the same – which speaks to how well I’ve found appropriate long lasting solutions.  And this year I’m hoping for a different outcome.  So I’m approaching it differently.

In my ReSoltuions notebook in Evernote (seriously, if they have server problems you’ll find me spinning in circles in the corner of Target) I’m creating a resolution for each month – I’m going to come up with 12 Resolutions for 2010 and I’m going to focus on one resolution each month and keeping it going.  I’m sure that a few of these will end up on my 2011 (and my 2030) resolutions list but maybe one or two will carry over from the months before and that would be progress and I never look down at progress.

Here’s how my ReSolutions are starting to take shape….what do you think of my game plan?

January – Turn off the TV before I fall asleep and take five deep breaths.  Just be still.
February – Dance every single day – maybe put music on your alarm clock so you start the day dancing.  It’s a better day when you shake it.
March – Dairy.  Just let it go for the month.  See what happens.  You’ll miss the cheese – sure – but maybe you’ll be just fine without it.
April – Operate all of your unplanned expenses with cash this month – be really thoughtful about how you’re breaking those bills.

Hi.  I’m Cass.  I’m new here.  Say Hi in the comments – I really like comments and I like to respond to comments.  Sometimes when I like the comment I gift the commenter with a Starbucks beverage.  I do this because it’s an excuse to go to Starbucks and I’m a sleep deprived Mom.  We deserve Starbucks.

Speaking of sleep deprived I have had a problem in the past of buying THE PERFECT present and then hiding it in a really good spot so that the intended recipient doesn’t stumble across it while grabbing a towel or searching for another box of Cheerios.   I’m apparently a great hider.  It’s the seeking I struggle with.  If I’ve found you the perfect jewlry traveling case because I know you’re always visiting your sister in Tulsa you’re going to GET it and even DURING the holiday.  You can thank Evernote.

If you haven’t used Evernote hop on over and check it out – it’s free (there is a premium version for power users).  So this is how I’m doing to use Evernote to find your present.

Step One: I have a notebook called Presents (original, yes?)

Step Two: Create a note in this notebook called The Nice List
This list has each persons name in one column, the intended gift if I have an idea and also holds some URL’s of places I’ve seen it online to price compare.

Step Three: Create a note in the notebook called The Hiding Spot
The Hiding Spot has a list of the presents, intended receipient and a picture of where I’ve hidden it.  I take the picture on my iPhone and it goes directly into this Evernote notebook.  (works on a ton of different mobile phones)

If you’d like to start using Evernote today and you’d like to use the notebooks mentioned above visit the GetButtonedUp shared notebook here. As we continue to use Evernote with the Buttoned Up Principles this Shared Notebook will be stocked with tips, templates and fun links.

Are you a present hider?  Have you once found a festive turtleneck for your Aunt Leslie with a receipt dating back to 1999? Oh, yeah – me neither.